Apparatus for finishing gears



Sept. 14 1926.

W. E. HOKE APPARATUS FOR FINISHING GEARS Filed Jan. 11. 19 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J0 .ZJa

lanky Sept. 14 1926.

W. E. HOKE APPARATUS FOR FINISHING GEARS Filed Jan. 11.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jaw . INVENTOR. BY 6, b fr/CL flyuw ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 14, 1926.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM E. HOKE, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

APPARATUS son rIuIsIIIne GEARS.

Application filed January 11, 1924. Serial No. 685,685.

This invention relates to apparatus for accurately finishing gears and more in particular transmission gears of motor vehicles.

Transmissions of the type referred to in clude as one member a gear mounted on a stub shaft.

It is the principal object of this invention to expeditiously finish gears of this character and it is a more special object to finish a larger number of such gears at the same time or in one operation.

For a more comprehensive disclosure of the invention and the principle of operation upon which it is based, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section, taken on line 11, Fig. 2, of an apparatus embodying the invention Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. is a fragmentary view showing a detail of a braking mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing means for rotating and reciprocating the main shaft; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a detail shown in Fig. 1.

The principle of operation is generally similar to that described in myco pending;

application Ser. No. 685,684, filed 3 311511,

1924, and is based on the use of a'c'ntral gear of considerable axial extent which' is r-eciprocated and rotated, preferably by in' dependent means, and about which are revolubly supported in mesh relation a plurality of gears to be finished.

In the drawing represents a lapping gear the shaft 10* of which is supported in bearings 11 and 12 on a stationary frame 13. About the gear 10 and in mesh relation therewith are disposed'a plurality of gears 16 which in turn are surrounded by an internal gear 17, the arrangement constituting an epicyclic gear train. The gears and their stub shafts 18 are supported between centering pins which are'stationary, while the internal gear 17 is mounted for rotation.

The center pins of alternate gears 16 are carried upon one set of disks or plates, while the pins of the remaining gears 16 are carried upon another set of disks, which two sets are movable relatively to each other in angular direction. As indicated in Fig. 2, a plate is secured to the frame 13 and carries pivot pins 15*, while a plate 14 carries pivot pins 14. The plate 14 is supported for limited rotary movement upon plate 15, the two plates being notched out to permit uniform disposition of the pivot pins. As shown more clearly in Fig. 5, the plate 14 is circular and is seated within a circular wall 15 of the plate 15. The plate 14 is thus accurately centered. The plate 14 has lugs 14 projectin beyond the inner edge of the plate 15 whi e similar lugs 15 of plate 15 project beyond the inner edge of the plate 14. The plate 14 may thus be freely moved. The amount of motion required, however, is very small.

The pivot pins'20 are mounted upon a stationary plate and are in alignment with the pivot pins 15, while the pivot pins 19 are mounted upon an angularly movable plate 19 and are in alignment with the pivot pins 14* on the movable plate 14:. The plate 19 is mounted for rotation upon the shaft 10 and is supported upon the frame 13 by means of a collar 12 engaging the bearing 12 which forms part of the plate 19.

The two plates are thus angularly movable about the axis of the lapping gear as center. As indicated in Fig. 2, the two plates may be interconnected by a spring tending to angularly move them relatively to each other. For the sake of illustration, I have shown two springs 23 and 2 1 connected at one end to plate 20 and at their opposite lends to plate 19. The arrangement is such that either one or the other of the springs may be put under tension. As a convenient means I have shown an eccentric 25 on plate 19 to which one end of each spring is attached. By the co-operation of suitable stops on the eccentric and the plate 19 the eccentric may be held in either of two positions so that either one or the other .spring is tensioned, as is well understood. Any other arrangement by which the plates may be angularly drawn together in one relative direction or the other will answer the pur pose of the invention. The plates 14 and 15 are similarly interconnected by springs.

The operation is as follows:

Without the springs, the gears would be in a substantially neutral position relative; ly to the lapping gear. There would be no load other than the inherent friction in the gear train.

When the corresponding springs at the top and bottom are tensioned, the two plates 19 and 20 are angularly drawn toward each other and thus force the gears into frictional contact with the lapping gear in opposite directions. Alternate gears are circumferentially pulled in one direction relatively to the central gear, while the other set of alternate gears is pulled in opposite direction, thereby tending to take up the back-, lash between individual neighboring gears 13, the central gear and the internal gear and in the gear system as a whole. By alternately tensioning the two sets of springs, the thrust is thrown in relatively opposite directions, whereby a uniformity of action may be attained.

The gears to be finished are subjected to the action of-the lapping gear 10 which is reciprocated and rotated. In practice I propose to first move the lapping gear into one of its extreme positions and then rotate it to rough-finish the gears. Thus one section, as for instance section 10 would be principally used for preliminarily finishing the gear. Then the lapping gear is simultaneously reciprocated and rotated to complete the finishing operation.

The spring tension is alternately applie as above indicated.

The form and disposition of the relatively movable plates 14 and 15, on the one hand, and the plates 19 and 20, on the other hand, may be varied within wide limits. The essential point is the relative angular movement between different gears 16 and the application of pressure tending to produce the desired relative angular motion.

As an alternative, but preferably in addition to the arrangement just described, provision is preferably made for braking the movement of the internal gear, as indicated in Fig. 3 which shows the application of a spring-pressed brake shoe 26 bearing upon the external surface of gear 17.

It is understood that various means are available for rotating and reciprocating the lapping gear 10. Thus as indicated in Fig. 4, the shaft l0 may carry near one of its ends a gear 30 splined to the shaft so that the latter may freely move in axial direction. An eccentric disk 31 provided with a flange 32 may engage a pin 33 projecting laterally from the shaft 10. The shaft thus may be reciprocated and simultaneously rotated. The arrangement thus described-forms no part of the invention and is referred to merely for the sake of illustration.

In the foregoing I have endeavored to explain the characteristics of the invention in connection with one specific embodiment.

It should be noted, that the object of the invention maybe attained by other constructions. While I prefer to operate the gear system described by rotating the central gear, rotary motion may be imparted to the internal gear. In such case the braking action may be applied to the central gear by any of many contrivances available in the light of the art in that respect.

I claim 1. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length, means for revolubly supporting a plurality of gears to be finished in mesh relation therewith, an internal gear constructed and arranged to have mesh relation with said plurality of gears and means for reciprocating and for rotating the central gear.

2. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length, stationary means for revolubly supporting a plurality of gears to be finished in mesh relation therewith, an internal gear constructed and arranged to have mesh relation with the plurality of gears mounted for rotary movement and means for reciprocating and for rotating the central gear.

3. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length, stationary means for revolubly supporting a plurality of gears to be finished in mesh relation therewith, an internal gear constructed and arranged to have mesh relation with the plurality of gears and mounted for rotary movement, means for acting upon the internal gear to impede movement thereof and means for reciprocating and for rotating the central gear.

4. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length, means for revolubly supporting a plurality of gears to be finished in mesh relation therewith, an internal gear constructed and arranged to have mesh relation with the said plurality of gears, means for rotating one of the two gears and means for reciprocating the central gear.

5. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length, means for revolubly supporting a plurality of gears to be finished in mesh relation therewith, an internal gear constructed and arranged to have mesh relation with the said plurality of gears, means for reciprocating the central gear, means for rotating one of the two gears and means for acting upon the other to impede movement thereof.

6. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length, stationary means for revolubly supporting a plurality of gears to be finished in mesh relation therewith, an internal gear constructed and arranged to have rotary movement in mesh with the said plurality of gears, means for rotating one of the two gears, means for reciprocating the central gear and means for varying the center distance between adjacent gears to be finished.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 including separate means angularly movable relatively to each other about a common center, one of said separate means supporting bearings of one set of alternate gears to be finished and the other of said separate means supporting the bearings of the other set of alternate gears, and spring means tending to angularly move the two means relatively to one another;

8. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length and means for supporting gears to be finished in mesh with the central gear, said means including pivot supports for each gear and means whereby the pivot supports of two of the gears may be angularly moved relatively to each other.

9. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length and means for supporting gears to be finished in mesh with the central gear, said means including pivot supports for each gear and means whereby the pivot supports of two of the gears may be angularly moved relatively to each other in concentric relation to the axis of the central gear. e

10. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of consider- 1 able axial length and means for supporting gears to be finished in mesh with the central gear, said means including pivot supports for each gear and means whereby the pivot supports of one set of gears may be angularly moved relatively to another set in concentric relation to the axis of the I central gear.

11. In apparatus for finishing gears, the combination of a central gear of considerable axial length and means for supporting gears to be finished in mesh with the central gear, said means including pivot supports for each gear, means whereby the ports. for each gear, means whereby the pivot supports of one set of gears may be angularly moved relatively to another set in concentric relation to the central gear and pressure means tending to effect such angular movement.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM E. HOKE. 

